Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-09-10

his works, appears larger than 1t really
Is. A dome actually rising SEVENTY five
feet above your head appears 10 The
largest rocks look like mountains Men
alone seem small They are mere pygmies
in the presence Of these manifestations Of ma
tures mighty forces No sense is so alert
down here as the imagination. 1t is ever
keen. On the vaultej ceilings Of the cav
eru are numerous incrustations Of gypsum,
stained by black oxide Of manganese. These
stand out like silhouettes. and as the guide
| lights bunch of oily waste and Eliminates
/ the cavern you have no difficulty III imaGin-
/ ing that YOU see the things which he says are
there-buffalces, wildcats, anteaters and
other animals. Again, when the guide bids
YOU all stand still while he disappears round
a turn in the cavern, and there ignites
torch whose light, streaming through the
angle made by the ragged walls Of the cav
ern, forms specter very like marble
statue, YOU are quite ready TO believe III the
resemblance Of the white thing 10 Washing
ton. or Gladstone, or Bismarck. the guide
may chance to term IT In great chamber
as big as the nall of representatives at W ash
ington the guide orders You all 10 extinguish
| your lanterns. The darkness which follows IS
the perfection of darkness. You never before
knew what darkness WAS 1t seems that you
could cut out chunks Of it and carry it home
With you Suddenly some one cries, look
up.' You look, and there is the armament
of heaven, with numerous stars gliStening
and twinkling at You. OF course they ars
not stars YOU are $50 feet beneath the surface
of the earth where no day starlight ever
penetrated: but they lock like stars for all
the world In reality they are bits of gyp-
sum rejecting the faint rays of light which
the srtful guide has, unbeknown to You,
thrown upon them from behind huge rock.
The hall is called Star Chamber"
Down in this wondrous cavern there are
hundreds of objects of interest which one
could describe in a book. but which cannot
| be even mentioned in a newspaper article.
| Echo river is the spot which fingers longest
| in the memory. There is no other such river
| in the world Ii has no banks, being shut in
| py solid walls of eternal stone. Beneath is
| the water from ten to forty feet deep: above,
the stone roof When seated in the boat you
| discover how low this roof Is. II strikes you
back and forces you TO get down almost upon
the bottom of the craft. The boatInan uses his
paddle more upon the rock overhead than in
the water below. II is a half mile across this
river; or rather a half mile travelling partly
with the current, and a weird, uncanny voy.
age it is. Strange echoes are here, and as the
visitors sing Yes, Wen Gather at the River"
and "On Jorian's Stormy Banks" the rever-
berations are loud enough 10 frighten the eve
less fish which inhabit these waters. But too
much noise spois the beauty of Echo rivers
magic quality. The echo here is pitched 10 q
certain key. and when this Is sounded the
best effects are produced Our guide bids
every one maintain absolute silence. Then
be agitates the water vigorously with his
paddle. We almost hold our breath Soon
the silence Is broken by a sound like the tink-
ling of bells. Larger and heavier peals seem
10 take up the melody. and then it appears AS
IL the chimes of a score of cathedrals were
joining in 10 swell the tempestuous chorus
Amazed and delighted We listen and listen,
until the music begins 10 lessen the volume Of
its tone, then to die away diminuendo, and
finally to disappear as softly and melodiously
Is ii came.
That Echo river is a part of Green river
has been shown by the simple test Of throw
ing chaff into the former, which soon re-
appeared on the surface of the daylight
stream The eyeiess fish are no myth About
four iNches long, almost white; some of them
have eye sockets, others none at all. Scien-
titic Snen agree that these fish lost their or
Gansof vision through lack OF use.
There Is no lack OF marvels. Visitors de
light to linger over the abyss called the Bot
tomless Pit, which has a bottom l.5 feet
down The River Styx is a mere pool There
Is q great number of walls and chambers
which the guides have given fanciful names
There Is a theatre IN which Edwin Booth once
played Hamlet, a music hall where Remenyi's
magic violin woke rhythmical echoes, a
chapel wherein scores Of couples have been
wed, one Of the heroines being a Kentucky
girl who had vowed beside the bed of a dying
lover that she would ne'er marry any man
ou the face of the earth
WALTER WELLMAN